Housings for electronic devices having battery compartment doors and latches therefor are well-known in the art. In portable electronic devices in which there has been a trend of decreasing physical size, designers are being challenged to miniaturize all housing components.
Smaller latches have presented a problem in that conventional latch structures have employed flexible snaps and detents to position the latch in one of two positions (latched or unlatched). The flexible snaps of these conventional structures have used snap arms normal to the direction of movement of the latch. To reduce the amount of space required for such a conventional latch it would be necessary to shorten the length of the snap arms. Shortening the length of the snap arms, however, would require increased deflection per unit length of the snap arms, thus possibly over-stressing the snap arms and leading to their permanent deformation. Smaller latches also can present a difficulty during assembly, because the small size makes it harder for a human assembler to see, and thus easy for the assembler to insert backwards.
Thus, what is needed is a way of reducing the space required for the latch for the battery compartment door. A way is needed that will not over-stress the snap arms. A latch is also needed that eliminates the opportunity for backwards insertion during assembly.